𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡

𝟏𝟎 | 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫

I was getting more and more nervous. Maybe I was delusional, and nothing happened. Maybe, was my mom told at work, that she must travel immediately to an island with no signal whatsoever. She was in the rush and probably didn't have time to let me know she was leaving, so she only called my father.

But what if she didn't show up to her job at all? What if someone has attacked her while she was getting out of the car? I'm sure someone would notice. Especially if it happened in front of the company building, where she works.

The door signaled someone's arrival, making my heart miss a beat, and at the same time, shrinking my lungs with terror. A man entered the hallway, a tight black T-shirt accentuating his protruding chest. The contours of the muscles were so visible that you could easily draw them with your finger. He was big and could be about two meters tall. I couldn't see who it was because of the black balaclava covering his face. What does he want here? Did he come to kidnap my mom? And alone? Lots of ambiguities glued into themselves and made one huge question mark behind the main question. Where did this man get the keys to mother's house?

Once again has my friend proved how brilliant he was.

"Don't you know if your mother had a spare key hidden somewhere?" I shook my head. I felt remorse that I was a terrible daughter because I didn't even know about a fucking spare key. But what if there was none? What if mom wasn't like everyone else in American movies, hiding a key under a doormat or flower pot?

But then, how did the kidnapper get in?

I wanted to keep thinking about this mystery, hoping to come up with a rational explanation, but the video kept going and draw all my attention to it. Two other men came after the intruder, showing as much as their companion – nothing.

I stared at the computer screen, and for some reason, I felt sick knowing that these people walked on the same floor just like me a moment ago. And when I realized that I hadn't been here when my mother needed me the most – everything seemed even worse. I couldn't help her in any way. But now I can. And I'll do anything to bring her back home.

I slowly exhaled the air I held inside me, wishing it was just as easy to get rid of the awful feelings and regrets, which were pressing my internal organs tightly, making it hard to exist. I didn't know what I was feeling at that moment. Curiosity held the first place, same with desire for this shit to end. So that this endless video record showed me the reason for my mother's absence, and then it destroyed itself. I never wanted to see it again.

THAT moment came.

Mom came back into the apartment. At least they let her drink orange juice, first, I thought furiously. Then they jumped at her. Three giants against one tiny woman. What kind of even match is this? I almost slammed my fist on the table.

Before I caught a breath, they put her to sleep and dragged her away. The squeak of the car brakes could be still heard on the recording. That was all.

I didn't want to cry, but suppressing my tears and sobs required almost supernatural effort. My body, which seemed smaller and smaller, was lost in Otto's massive shoulders and I couldn't be more grateful for the fact he didn't say anything, just stood still in the middle of a dark room, gently stroking my back with his hands. I was silent, too, even though on the inside, I was screaming like hell. Where did those bastards take her? Is she alive at all?